Authorities say it was not a random targeting of a police officer. He was recently engaged to be married. Absolutely heartbreaking..

Yet another officer has been killed this week in what is being described as having been planned by multiple parties to kill an Abilene police officer in his home. The slain officer has been identified as Don Allen by the chief of police. According to a local news source, Big Country Homepage, a search warrant for cell tower information included the following:
This ruling isn’t official, but a direct quote from the documents reads, “communication occurred between multiple parties to plan and carry out the murder. [The officer filing the warrant] believes cell towers within the ten mile radius will have captured transaction between the suspects who were involved in this murder.”

Little information has been made available to the public at this point, but it has been released that the FBI, Texas DPS, Texas Rangers and other agencies have joined in the investigation. Authorities have said this was not a random targeting of a police officer.
“His family is heartbroken, as is our police family,” said an Abilene police spokesman according to WFAA.
We will update this story as information becomes available. Full press release from Abilene PD below.

OFFICER DEATH INVESTIGATION ABILENE, TX – On August 31, 2015, the Clyde Police Department received a 9-1-1 call from a south side residence shortly after 7 pm indicating a man had been found deceased in the home. When police arrived, they found the body of off-duty Abilene Police Officer Don Allen. He was the only person inside the residence when found by family members. The manner of death was clearly suspicious, so the Clyde Police Department contacted the Abilene Police Department and Texas Rangers for assistance.

All three agencies and the FBI have now been working through this investigation non-stop, and we will continue until those responsible are taken into custody. This investigation is being treated as a homicide. At this time, there does not appear to be any danger to members of the Clyde community, nor is there any indication that random law enforcement personnel are being targeted.

I will defer all other questions about this investigation to the Texas Rangers, of whom Ranger Shane Morrow is primary. My primary purpose of this media conference is to give Abilene a keen understanding of the great man and great peace officer that we lost yesterday. Before Abilene hired Don, he was working as an officer in Cisco, Texas. He had been with that agency for a year and 5 months. What really impressed us about Don was the fact that he applied for Abilene and indicated he wanted to go through our full police academy, versus an abbreviated lateral academy. This entailed another long and grueling six months of training. He completed the training, and in doing so gained lifelong friends and tremendous respect for fully adopting Abilene’s core values. Officer Don Allen graduated from Police Academy Class 51 along with 14 other officers. As a peace officer, he had accrued 1,400 training hours. His total service time as a Texas Peace Officer was 3 years and 3 months.

Officer Allen is survived by his parents of Clyde, as well as two brothers and a sister. This family is heartbroken over the loss of their loved one, as is our police family. Parents should not have to bury their children, and this family certainly needs our love and prayers during this time. Officer Allen was engaged to be married, having proposed to his fiancé on July 12th.